[http://unity.ubuntu.com/ Unity] is a powerful desktop and netbook environment that brings consistency and elegance to the Ubuntu experience.

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[http://unity.ubuntu.com/ Unity] is an alternative shell for the GNOME desktop environment, developed by Canonical in its Ayatana project. It consists of several components including the Launcher, Dash, lenses, Panel, indicators, Notify OSD and Overlay Scrollbar. Unity used to available in two implementations: 'Unity' is the 3D accelerated version, which uses Compiz window manager and Nux toolkit; and 'Unity 2D' is a lighter alternative, which uses Metacity window manager and Qt toolkit. Unity 2D is already dropped by Canonical from Ubuntu 12.10. Instead a version powered by Gallium3D llvmpipe alternative is used.

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== Installation ==

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There are two ways to install Unity on Archlinux: from the source and from a repository.

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== Installation ==

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There are two ways to install Unity on Archlinux:

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*'''from source code'''

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*'''from repository'''

=== From source ===

=== From source ===

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All of the pkgbuilds can be browsed in [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch Github repository], where [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch Unity-For-Arch] provides a minimal working Unity shell, [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch-Extra Unity-For-Arch-Extra] provides some additoinal applications including '''lightdm-ubuntu'''(lightdm with ubuntu patch), '''light-themes''', '''ubuntu-tweak'''(a popular ubuntu tweak tool) and so on.

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All of the PKGBUILDs can be browsed on the [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch Github repository], where [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch Unity-For-Arch] provides a minimal working Unity shell, and [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch-Extra Unity-For-Arch-Extra] provides some additional applications, including '''lightdm-ubuntu''' (lightdm with ubuntu patches), '''light-themes''', '''ubuntu-tweak''' (a popular unity tweak tool) and some more.

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To install minimal Unity shell:

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To install a minimal Unity shell:

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1. 'cd' to a directory that you want to keep the sources in and then run:

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1. 'cd' into a directory, where you want to keep the sources, and run:

{{bc|$ git clone https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch.git}}

{{bc|$ git clone https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch.git}}

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Where {{Pkg|git}} is required.

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For this to work, {{Pkg|git}} is required.

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2 Open the README file and build packages according to the order listed. Basically run:

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2 Open the README file and build packages according to the ordered list. Basically run:

{{bc|$ cd packagename

{{bc|$ cd packagename

$ rm -rvf # Clears out any files from a previous build

$ rm -rvf # Clears out any files from a previous build

Line 30:

Line 29:

3. Log out and log into the Unity session.

3. Log out and log into the Unity session.

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To use lightdm to start Unity, almost the same steps need to be followed to instal '''lightdm-ubuntu''' and '''lightdm-unity-greeter''' from [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch-Extra Unity-For-Arch-Extra]. And lightdm needs to be added to autostart daemons. For Systemd users, check [https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd wiki article about Systemd].

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To use '''lightdm''' to start Unity, follow the same steps mentionned above to install '''lightdm-ubuntu''' and '''lightdm-unity-greeter''' from the [https://github.com/chenxiaolong/Unity-for-Arch-Extra Unity-For-Arch-Extra] repository. '''lightdm''' needs to be added to autostart daemons. For Systemd users, check the [https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd Systemd wiki page].

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{{Tip|To make this procedure automatic, [https://gist.github.com/3906721 a script] can be used.}}

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{{Tip|To complete this procedure automatically, [https://gist.github.com/3906721 this script] can be used.}}

=== From repository ===

=== From repository ===

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{{Tip| There are many ubuntu-patched packages that replace original Arch packages.

{{Tip| There are many ubuntu-patched packages that replace original Arch packages.

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Also it is recommended to use freetype2-ubuntu and libxft-ubuntu from AUR.}}

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It is also recommended to use freetype2-ubuntu from '''AUR'''.}}

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{{Warning|Remember you're installing '''unofficial''' packages that are unsupported by the Arch Linux developers.}}

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{{Warning|Remember that you are installing '''unofficial''' packages which are not supported by the Arch Linux developers.}}

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{{Warning|Almost all of the packages related to Unity in AUR are outdated. Don't mix those packages with those from the repository.}}

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{{Warning|Almost all packages related to Unity in '''AUR''' are outdated. Do not mix those packages with the ones provided from the repository.}}

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=== From testing repository ===

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There is also a testing repository which provides bleeding edge features and is almost always synchronized to the changes made in Github repository. You may want to use it if you prefer newest features or if you've encountered some package conflicts while using the repositories mentioned above.

Installation

There are two ways to install Unity on Archlinux: from the source and from a repository.

From source

All of the PKGBUILDs can be browsed on the Github repository, where Unity-For-Arch provides a minimal working Unity shell, and Unity-For-Arch-Extra provides some additional applications, including lightdm-ubuntu (lightdm with ubuntu patches), light-themes, ubuntu-tweak (a popular unity tweak tool) and some more.

To install a minimal Unity shell:

1. 'cd' into a directory, where you want to keep the sources, and run:

To use lightdm to start Unity, follow the same steps mentionned above to install lightdm-ubuntu and lightdm-unity-greeter from the Unity-For-Arch-Extra repository. lightdm needs to be added to autostart daemons. For Systemd users, check the Systemd wiki page.

Tip: To complete this procedure automatically, this script can be used.

Tip: There are many ubuntu-patched packages that replace original Arch packages.
It is also recommended to use freetype2-ubuntu from AUR.

Warning: Remember that you are installing unofficial packages which are not supported by the Arch Linux developers.

Warning: Almost all packages related to Unity in AUR are outdated. Do not mix those packages with the ones provided from the repository.

From testing repository

There is also a testing repository which provides bleeding edge features and is almost always synchronized to the changes made in Github repository. You may want to use it if you prefer newest features or if you've encountered some package conflicts while using the repositories mentioned above.

Update

For Unity repository, the update is the same as packages from official repositories.

Otherwise:

1. 'cd' into the 'Unity-for-Arch' directory where it was originally cloned

2. pull all of changes from github repository:

$ git pull

3. Check if packages need to be updated:

$ ./What_can_I_update\?.py

4. If any packages need to be updated, just build them like mentioned above in from source section.

Note: Sometimes if certain crucial package is updated, those package which depend on it will also need to be recompiled though they won't be reported. For example, Unity is often required to be recompiled if nux gets updated